Over the past couple of months we have amassed a large collection of new books sent from publishers or bought ourselves (not to mention th...

First Word Books

Sunday, June 11, 2017 BookBairn 14 Comments

Over the past couple of months we have amassed a large collection of new books sent from publishers or bought ourselves (not to mention the library visits and the new baby gifts - though not too many people are brace enough to risk sending us a book in case we already have it). And of course I've been a little too tired (when pregnant) and preoccupied (during labour) and exhausted (since the sleep-thief arrived) to review them here on the blog. I have however featured them all on our social media, mostly through Instagram (I like it best - so many pretty pictures!). But I wanted to share as many as I can on here so I'm going to doing a few posts that share a few books at a time that have similar themes. (I should point out that my review policy isn't to review every book I receive but only to give you a realistic representation of what BookBairn and The Wee Page Turner and myself actually read and enjoy.)

BookBairn has been sharing her lovely stories and words with us from an early age - she was 9 months when she first said "dada" followed by "booo-k" and "mama" and then a whole flood of words appeared. I think this is probably down to all the exposure to words from our stories but she is still very advanced in her speech and language for her age (not bragging it's just the way she is at the moment!). So we moved on quite quickly from single word books but we have recently been sent some really wonderful ones that I'm keeping for The Wee Page Turner when he gets a bit older (and can turn the pages himself). Here are my favourites that we received recently:

Learning Garden My First Books

These bright and colourful books teach toddlers their first concepts using the stylish artwork of Aino-Maija Metsola. Perfect for inquistive little readers, each book is organised by category to help learners build their vocabulary and classify words according to subject. Each spread has lots of illustrations to name and split into blocked pictures it is simple and clear to identify each object, animal or colour. These are amongst the brightest books we have in our collection and they are pulled out again and again. I like the extra addition of a question on each page which extends older readers meaning they will no doubt continue to appeal to BookBairn even when her little brother is just beginning to understand the words. Part of a wider series the three we have, 'My First Words', 'My First Colours and Shapes' and 'My First Animals', are a great foundation to any book collection!


Touch! My Big Touch-And-Feel Word Book

This book takes learning new words to a whole new level! Child development specialist have shown that children learn best when they learn using all of their senses - not just sight and sound but touch as well! And that's what makes this book so wonderful. Children can not only point to the pictures as they learn new words but they can actually touch and feel them. It really is multisensory! With touch and feel elements built into the illustrations, children can feel the soft blanket, stroke the soft skin of the dolphin and feel the scratchy burlap of a sack. The illustrations are the typical bold and simple style of Xavier Deneux whose first-word book series, Touch Think Learn, we have reviewed previously. This book is a much larger format than that previous series meaning that children will need help to maneuver it, but of course, they will need help to explore the words anyway. Quite simply this is just a little bit more exciting than a standard first-word primer.

Dotty's First Book

In this first word book from Becky Baur, we follow Dotty the Dalmatian as she explores the world around her and learning words along them way. An interesting mix of story and first word primer, children will love spotting Dotty on each page as she goes on her adventures. She rides her bike through the city spotting shapes along the way, she notices opposites in the art gallery and animals at the zoo. Featuring only illustrations only adds to the element of story making the learning more implicit than most first word primers. However, in order for children to really learn using this book they would need an adult to help make the connections between the words and the illustrations as they are not as well connected as with more traditional primers. The flip side to that is that children might be more inclined to 'read' this one by themselves given that it is more of a story book with a fun little character keeping them interested. Not as packed full as other first word primers but certainly lots of fun!

100 First Words

This can only be described as the ultimate compendium of key words of little ones! This book is a large format (too big for little hands to read on their own unless the stretch out across the floor, which BookBairn loves to do) and consists of twelve different themed pages. It covers all the familiar things that little ones are interested in from colours and animals to things around the home and things seen out and about. It expertly mixes photographs and illustrations allowing children to see objects in a real-life context encouraging their learning of the world around them whilst also creating little scenes that can become stories to discuss, for example a waddle of penguins playing in the snow (and yes, 'waddle' is an acceptable collective noun for penguins - I checked!). Each photo and illustration is labelled encouraging little ones to point and name the objects, and of course develop their vocabulary. This book uses an interesting colour scheme too which is soft and gentle to look at with only a limited colour-palette on each page, which allows the image to really stand out on the page. This is a great book to start off your little ones learning adventure - it really shows them that the world around them is amazing, fascinating and fun!


The Wee Page Turner is beginning to engage with the world around him which means it's time to start introducing books to him as a regular play thing! And these ones are great - worth doing tummy time for! Whilst taking our photos for this post BookBairn was being rather cheeky and she kept stealing the books away from her little brother - apparently sharing books is not yet on her agenda! Amusingly, she kept taking them and hiding them behind the sofa all the while shouting "I want to be a book blogger!!" She is certainly quite the little book-monkey!

BookBairn's first three words were "dada", "book" and "mama", I wonder what The Wee Page Turner's will be? What were your little ones first words?

Mummy, BookBairn and The Wee Page Turner xxx

*DISCLAIMER* We were sent our copies of all of these books by their various publishers in exchange for an honest review, the words and opinions are our own. 




14 comments:

  1. Wee Page Turner might be likely to say 'More' or 'Next'...

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  2. My little one's first word was "toado". It was a blanket word for everything. MummyBookBairn, how your vocabulary has expanded. Another great blog. If BookBairn follows in your footsteps she'll do just fine.

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    1. And I've not stopped talking since!! Poor daddy won't get a word in!

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  3. These are fantastic books, so bright and inviting! Thank you for sharing with #readwithme

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    1. Lots of great new first word books out at the moment!

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  4. These look lovely early books to introduce. Love the touch-me one best. I do miss this stage now #readwithme

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    1. The touch one is really good! BookBairn liked the sticky spread on the toast best!

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  5. These all sound like wonderful books to me. Thank you for sharing your thoughts about them. #readwithme

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    1. We are lucky to have such a fantastic selection to choose from!

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  6. MY daughter hast the 100 First Words Books and she loved it so much she actually ended up destroying it as she sucked on it and took it everywhere with her! Thanks for linking up to #KLTR

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    1. It's funny how the most loved books and toys suffer the worst fate! But better loved than not!

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  7. I love first word books and seeing new and different one's. These one's look great and it's so good to start children young. Thanks for sharing these with KLTR.

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    1. Thanks Angela! So many good ones around at the moment!

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